Broccoli. There is so much to say about broccoli and her powers. She’s mighty and strong and delicious and beautiful and oh-so-powerful. We all need broccoli in our life. While I’m not fighting cancer that I know of, I am certainly doing everything in my life to prevent it. And broccoli is in my arsenal of weapons for doing this.

Many of you think I’m doing the following amazing preparations for getting pregnant and think that’s the main reason I’m changing so many things such as:

Yes, because I’m trying to get pregnant soon, I want to be as healthy as possible. But, that’s not the only reason.

Some of you know I’m a regular contributor at Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Life community (I’ve recently been honored as an Ambassador of the community – I’m so thrilled about that). Well, since contributing regularly in that super warm, amazing community, my eyes have been opened big time. You don’t have to have cancer to be a part of that group because it’s an overall wellness community, but many of the people there do have cancer. People my age. People just like me. People just like you. It’s humbling and sad, yet empowering. I’ve concluded that I’m not leaving it up to my diet for preventing cancer. I’m not taking any chances… and why should I? (or why should you for that matter?) I’m doing everything I can to live as clean a life as possible, because the toxins in our environment are overwhelming (you know those products you “thought” were okay, well, some are still not safe – read shocking info here). After spending time in Kris Carr’s community and seeing so many people fight cancer, I’m maintaining my new EXTRA healthy and clean lifestyle for good, whether I conceive or not.

It’s easy to do. There are so many terrific products (or ingredients to make your own) on the market that it’s a no-brainer to me (for beauty, hair, cleaning, etc – I’ll post my favorites soon!). And, Whoo-Whee, don’t forget about all the good you’re doing for the environment by making these better choices. Let me just tell you, I’ve never felt so proud… and so amazing, wonderful, pure, energized, and full of life.

Okay, so let’s get back to one of the powerhouse cancer fighting and preventing staples in my life… broccoli. I love broccoli. I’ll be honest, I’m not a raving fan of just eating it plain and raw. Those cute little trees are a little tough when they’re in that form. But, I do enjoy it in the following ways:

To cook or not to cook? I’ve read many things stating that broccoli should be steamed gently to release some of the nutrients. Of course, by steaming or cooking, you destroy many other nutrients as well. So, I do both. I’m keeping it balanced by enjoying it Raw in most cases (as well as having it lightly steamed on occasion). Here is a great article detailing the amazing cancer fighting benefits of Raw broccoli. Additionally, broccoli juice has been shown to decrease LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels.Let’s give broccoli (vegetable royalty), a huge applause for the following:vitamin C, vitamin A, folic acid, calcium, chromium, fiber, potassium, magnesium, lutein, zeaxanthin, phosphorous… just to name a few basics, but that’s not all:

sulforaphane glucosinolate: Sprouts have a far higher concentration of these than mature broccoli. Shown to stop the growth of breast and prostate cancer cells. Other studies show the growth of thyroid and goiter cancer cells to be slowed when treated with sulfur containing substances found in broccoli. They may also help prevent the growth of bacteria causing stomach ulcers.

indole-3-carbinol: Stimulator of detoxifying enzymes and shown to protect DNA.